Perfection
by AGENT Kuma-chan
Summary: Tohru is perfect. At least, she is according to Yuki and Kyo. But, even though everyone thinks she has them, she can't have all of the answers all of the time. She can't always save them. Sometimes, she can't even save herself.
1. Perfection

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, Tohru would end up with Yuki, and Kagura would have Kyo.

This is a break from my Naruto fics, as one of my friends is getting tired of editing only Naruto stories.

This is dedicated to my good friend, Sri Lanka (this is a nickname). After editing all of my stories, I gave you something on a different genre….though you were the only editor to complain….

_Perfection_

I

While the brunette girl cooked their meal for the first time, Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo watched. Sometimes, they winced when she tripped, or grimaced when she ran from one side of the kitchen to the other; worried that she left the stove on or was overcooking the food. "She doesn't seem to know what she's doing," the three zodiac creatures noted as she yelled something about, "THE STOVE IS ON FIRE!"

However, when she finally brought in the food, panting and red-faced, she didn't seem like she made any mistakes. The food looked…edible (or at least it did, compared to what they normally had). And when they finally tasted it, all they could think was

_This is perfect. _

II

Sometimes Yuki and Kyo would fight, yelling harsh words at each other and breaking the room they're in apart. The two boys would attack and dodge each other, the cat always trying to outsmart the rat. Kyo would fail, but still continue, determined to actually win, even if it was just once. His yells and the sound of their scuffle are heard throughout the house. Shigure ignores this, but Tohru doesn't (she just can't).

True, by now she's used to it, but still Tohru worries and tries her best to stop them. And when she comes in, calling their names in an anxious tone, they stop fighting and, in an awkward manner, apologize. Because this is Tohru and they don't want to hurt her. She is the only one who accepts them for who and what they are. And as they help relieve her worries, they think,

_She is perfect._

III

After Akito comes and reminds Yuki, once again, of all the things that have and will continue to happen, the silver-haired boy shakes. He is frightened and he is worried. Worried that he might lose the home he has, lose the friends (after a long time, he actually has some) he made. Worried that the person that scarred him will badly hurt (and maybe destroy) _her_. He is just so scared.

Kyo is also scared, but for a different reason. Akito has yet again reminded him of the monster he is, and of what happens to monsters like him. And so he thinks, "If _she_ were to find out, _she_ would lose _her_ happiness and be sad." He does not want that to happen, as he's already caused enough damage as it is.

However, when Tohru comes in and smiles at them, trying to make them feel better (for she always can sense their feelings somehow), they immediately hide their fears. They laugh with her, quarrel with each other; anything to make an appearance of normalcy and not let her delve into their dark secrets.

_They don't want to taint her, stain her in darkness. _

IV

Tohru, however, does not think of herself as perfect. In fact, she thinks of herself as anything but perfect. When she finally cooked for them (for the first time), she was afraid she did something wrong. When she left the stove on and slightly overcooked the rice, she knew she made mistakes. When she accidentally dropped her food (luckily, she caught it in time), she showed that she was clumsy.

After they got served, Tohru watched them eat, preparing herself for polite words (or from Kyo, scornful words) that would tell her, and "This isn't good." After they finished though, she realized she must have managed to do something right, for they smiled at her, giving thanks for the meal.

_She didn't make a mistake this time. _

V

When her hosts fought, for the fiftieth time, she couldn't help but wonder, "What should I do? How can I stop this fighting?" As she tried to think of a way to stop them, she instead just kept reflecting her own shortcomings. How she wasn't able to ever help others, without getting a push.

Later, when they looked hurt in places she can't touch (yet another thing she couldn't help with), she tries to make them feel better. But Tohru knows that in the end, she can't do anything. That she can only make them feel better for a while, before they sink back into the darkness. And when she sees them smile and joke with her, she realizes that they know this too. That they only pretend to feel better, so that she doesn't feel bad. And as she thinks this, she feels worse. She feels that she can't repay them back for all they've done for her.

_She feels like she failed. _

VI

Tohru doesn't ever feel like she knows what she is doing, that she can do what they expect her to do. She feels too weak, to imperfect. She doesn't feel as pure as they make her out to be, that she is stained (she feels that every night, as she relives her past mistakes and her mother's death). She knows this, because sometimes (like the time she found out about Kyo's true form) she feels revolted by them. Then she feels guilty and tries to make up for it. Sometimes she's scared of them, but tries to hide it with a smile. She doesn't feel like she can save them, but wants to, just to repay their kindness. She really tries to make up for her imperfections, by trying to be perfect. She tries to make up for her mistakes by not making any more, and when she does, she laughs them away (while inside, she punishes herself). And slowly, she breaks, little by little.

_For as much as she tries to hide it, she is only human._

_Perfection is a deadly thing. _

A/N: Out of curiosity, I wrote this story in two ways. The next chapter is this story written in a different way, as I want to know which way is better.

review?


	2. Perfection 2

Disclaimer: I wrote this in the last chapter…Do I need to do it again?

_Perfection Version 2.0 (always wanted to write that)_

"YOU DAMNED RAT!"

The orange-haired boy once again started to attack the grey-haired cousin. While Kyo struck rashly, Yuki agilely dodged every attack. As Tohru watched the two boys in front of her fight, she thought, "What should I do? How can I stop them from fighting?" Desperately, she tried to grab Yuki, who was closest to her. However, she tripped and ended us hugging both boys, transforming them. "POOF!" a cat and rat popped out of a cloud of smoke, the boys' clothes falling uselessly on the floor. However, just because they were transformed didn't mean that their fight was over. The orange cat tried to attack the grey rat fruitlessly. Nimbly, the rat dodged and ran over to Tohru, who was crying out worriedly, "Please stop fighting!" This stopped their fighting, but as the two creatures just stared at her, she wondered if she did the right thing.

_Crack! Another jagged line formed in her heart._

Yuki, breaking the awkward silence, then said, "Honda-san…POOF!" The two boys transformed back, and Tohru turned around, mortified. "I-I-I'll g-go get your c-c-clothes!" she stuttered, trying to get the boys covered.

While they changed, Yuki continued, "Don't worry about us, Honda-san. We just need to relieve our stress, sometimes." Not to be outdone, Kyo yelled, "YEAH! It is just that STUPID RAT'S fault! He was trying to feed me…." The energetic boy shuddered.

"Healthy food."

"Healthy…WHY YOU!"

As they bickered, Tohru gave a sigh of relief. "I managed to do the right thing," she thought.

_I didn't make a mistake this time._

Later, Akito visited. Once again, when he departed, he left a terrified Yuki and a lost-looking Kyo. As she stared at her two broken-hearted friends in front of her, she tried to think of ways to help them. Finally, thinking of something, she went to her room and grabbed a deck of cards. "Maybe if we play…" her mind trailed off, hoping that this would work. Once she returned to them, she forced a grin (if she couldn't smile, how could she expect them to?) and then quickly said, "Let's play!"

Afer playing for an hour (and Kyo losing for an hour), Tohru glanced at both boys in front of her. They seemed to be arguing and acting like their usual selves. "It worked…" she thought.

_I didn't fail them._

However, she knew that this wouldn't last long. That soon enough, they would lose their smiles and remember their sorrows. _She couldn't help them permanently._ How could she save them, when she could hardly save herself (she never told them, but at night she would remember each of her mistakes and relieve her mother's death).

When she started to do her homework (she was improving, and starting to understand the work), she noticed one of the questions on the sheet.

"What is perfection?'

Her eyes widened slightly, before she started to answer the question. She already knew the answer, as if the words were always inside of her and was just waiting for this chance to flow out.

"Perfection is when someone knows just what to do to make someone feel better."

_Unlike me, who just stumbles along, guessing._

"When someone can bring a smile to another's face, chase away their dark clouds, remove their fears and sorrows, that is perfection."

_While all I can do is temporally remove it, and hope that I did right._

"Perfection is hard to accomplish, and only someone who is perfect can have it, someone who is pure and not tainted by darkness."

_My heart is not as clean as others think it is; it is more stained than I let on._

"Perfection is hard to find."

_I am not perfect. _

As she finished writing the answer to that question, a tear slid down Tohru's face. She knew that she was not going to be able to live up to her friends', her new family's, expectations. She knew she is going to slip up one day, and show them just how imperfect she is, just how unlike her image she is. And one day, she knew she was going to disappoint them, and they would avoid her, reject her, because she couldn't be everything they want her, need her, to be.

She cried herself to sleep that night.

_Perfection is a deadly thing. _

A/N: Yes, I wonder if this one seems a bit rushed…oh well…

...Review?


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